Goodwood’s famous hillclimb reopens, hosting new models from Lotus, BMW, Toyota and more.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is back for 2021, after last year’s event was moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s event is open now, and forms part of the UK Government’s live event pilot scheme ahead of restricting easing later in July. The British Grand Prix is also included, to the delight of motorsport fans.
The event is live streamed online and highlights will be shown after the event. Our reporters on the ground at the event this week are updating Automotive Daily each day so make sure to check back in.
This year’s theme is “The Maestros – Motorsport’s Great All-Rounders,” and Lotus is featured as the event’s key manufacturer following the announcement of its new sports car, the Emira.
Goodwood’s famous Central Feature sculpture is Lotus-themed and the brand is displaying its most iconic road and race cars at the festival, with everything from the 1965 Lotus Type 25 racer to the Evija hypercar making an appearance.
The Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood estate, said: “Lotus cars raced with great success at Goodwood throughout the fifties and sixties, including setting the ultimate lap record in 1965, and this year’s Central Feature will serve as a fitting landmark to its past, present and future achievements.”
The hillclimb event and Sunday Shootout are running as normal this weekend, as well as the supercar paddock, allowing festival-goers to see exotic cars up close. There’s also a concours d’elegance event on the lawn outside Goodwood House, which displays some of the rarest cars in the world.
The Festival of Speed Future Lab also returns for 2021, following its first appearance at the event in 2019. This attraction is designed to give the public a glimpse into the future of transport, revealing new autonomous driving technology, flying cars, virtual reality and even deep-sea submersibles.
Formula 1 fans are able to meet their heroes up close at the F1 Pit Lane. The area features a line-up of some of the greatest F1 racers from the sport’s history, while current drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and former three-time world champion Jackie Stewart are making appearances too.
Goodwood’s organisers have also launched a new attraction for 2021, called the Electric Avenue. It’s dedicated to the rapidly expanding pure-electric vehicle market, and displays everything from dinky city cars to 1,000bhp-plus battery-powered hypercars.
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2021: manufacturers A to Z
The world’s biggest car brands are strutting their stuff at Goodwood with the usual varied selection of historic racing cars, classic models from the past and brand new products – some of which have not been seen in public before. Here’s a rundown of what they’re all up to…
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo celebrated its 110th anniversary last year – and the occasion was marked by the launch of the Giulia GTA and GTAm. Both cars are powered by a 397kW 2.9-litre V6 and will make their official debuts with a charge up the Goodwood hill climb course. Read our review of the car here.
Aston Martin
The 865Kw Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar appears at this year’s Festival of Speed with – you guessed it – a run up the Goodwood hill climb. It’ll be followed by the new Vantage F1 Edition and the DBX SUV, while the DB11 and DBS Volante are both parked up in the Supercar Paddock.
BMW
BMW is planning a whole weekend of action. The all-new 2 Series Coupe will make its world debut at the festival, with a no-holds barred run up the hill climb course. The 467kW BMW M5 CS will closely follow, while the pure-electric i4 and iX will be on display up on the Electric Boulevard in the Stable Yard.
Ferrari
Ferrari has chosen Goodwood to show off its latest SF90 Spider hypercar and where better to debut the 735kW hybrid V8 droptop than a run up the famous hill? If that’s not enough to draw you to the famous Italian car-maker’s stand, the new Roma, F8 Tributo, 812 GTS and recently-launched Portfino M will be all in attendance.
Ford
Ford is showing off its all-electric future at Goodwood with a line-up of road, competition and concept cars. The Mustang Mach-E GT, the top version of the new EV, appears at the event this year, plus the Team Fordzilla P1, a car designed by video game fans, and the Mustang Mach-E 1400 seen at last year’s online event.
Genesis
Newcomer Genesis makes it brand’s debut this year at Goodwood and to ensure it makes a decent first impression it has brought along its stylish G70 Shooting Brake that’s rakish styling makes a convincing case that estates are once again cool.
Hyundai
The all-new Hyundai Ioniq 5 makes its dynamic debut at Goodwood this year. The second-gen EV has already made quite the impression on us, we’ve described it as quite simply one of the best electric cars on sale right now. Will it win show-goers over with its distinctive looks, great tech and relaxing drive?
Kia
With deliveries still months away, this year’s Festival of Speed will give punters their first glimpse of the striking Kia EV6. Set to shatter any preconceptions of the Korean brand, the EV6 blends sporty styling with incredible performance if you opt for the 430kW dual motor version that launches it from 0-100kph in just 3.5 seconds.
Lotus
The new Lotus Emira will make its dynamic debut at Goodwood this year. When it goes on sale, it’ll replace the Elise, Exige and Evora as the brand’s only combustion-engined sports car. It’ll also be the last of its kind, as all of the company’s future planned vehicles will feature pure-electric powertrains.
Maserati
Maserati has also confirmed the 325kph MC20 sports car will make its dynamic debut at Goodwood. The 464kW machine will be driven by Maserati’s very own test driver, Andrea Bertolini, who made his name in GT racing. The new Ghibli Trofeo will also be on display in the festival’s First Glance Paddock.
McMurty
McMurtry Automotive has a new pure electric track car concept called the McMurtry Spéirling to show off at Goodwood this year. Five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell will be driving the car up the hill.
MINI
Star of the MINI’s Goodwood offering this year will be the dynamic debut of its Electric Pacesetter that was created as a safety car for Formula E. Featuring a wild look inherited from the latest John Cooper Works GP, the extreme battery-powered hatch concept is tipped to preview a real JCW based on MINI Electric that will be lighter and get more power.
Polestar
Pay close attention to the Polestar Precept that will make a star appearance at the 2021 Festival of Speed this year because its swoopy styling will directly inspire the third standalone Polestar 3 that will be unveiled later this year. Said to blend an SUV with a long luxury, saloon with a fastback rear, like the stunning concept the production car will look like nothing else.
Porsche
Fresh from setting new Nurburgring lap record, the 471kW Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is primed to spend its Festival of Speed humbling supercars up the world-famous hill climb. Featuring an entirely new aero and extreme chassis tune, the Cayenne Turbo GT also sports a new full titanium sports exhaust that’s deletes the centre silencer for the full race car soundtrack.
Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce is in the mood to celebrate at this year’s Goodwood, that explains why it plans to unveil the Landspeed special editions based on its drop-top Dawn and Wraith coupe. Both commemorate a 1937 speed record set by Captain George Eyston, who clocked 502kph in a vehicle powered by not one, but two Rolls-Royce V12 aircraft engines.
SCG
US race team-cum-supercar-maker, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, is set to stun at Goodwood this year when it launches its 004S – a wild track-bred supercar that features a central driving position, up to 634kW and good old fashion six-speed manual. Created for purists, SCG will also offer a CS version that’s claimed to be nothing short of a road-legal racer.
Pininfarina
This year will be Pininfarina’s first attendance at Goodwood – and the company is bringing its biggest gun to the show. The pure-electric 1397kW Battista hypercar will be on display at the festival’s new Electric Avenue attraction, as a celebration of the car’s successful completion of its test programme.
Toyota
The new Toyota GR86 will make its debut at the Festival of Speed, with a run up the hill climb course in the hands of as-yet unconfirmed racing driver. The rear-drive sports car is the successor to the GT86 and features a 173kW 2.4-litre flat-four petrol engine, which gives it a 0–100kph time of 6.3 seconds.
I’m stuck in the UK, how can I attend? Goodwood 2021 dates and tickets
The 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed will be held on 8-11 July this year and tickets are selling out fast.
Tickets are still available but there’s now limited availability on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.